INDIA IPPON DESU
Thursday, December 28, 2023
How to make a better cup of coffee
World NewsStudy seems to confirm secret ingredient for better coffee
Coffee connoisseurs have long held the belief that adding a little water to the beans before grinding them could make a difference. A new study by researchers at the University of Oregon seems to confirm exactly why.
Posted 2023-12-25T12:01:13+00:00 - Updated 2023-12-25T17:34:28+00:00 Best coffee products for the holiday season
By Jacopo Prisco , CNN
Coffee connoisseurs have long held the belief that adding a little water to the beans before grinding them could make a difference. A new study by researchers at the University of Oregon seems to confirm exactly why.
The research explored how the technique, which started as an attempt to address the often messy coffee-making process, also affected flavor.
“When you grind coffee, it goes everywhere,” said study coauthor Christopher Hendon, an associate professor of computational materials chemistry at the University of Oregon. “Dust comes out of the grinder, it’s like a plume that covers everything. But if you add a little water, it seems to not go everywhere. It’s cleaner. That was the primary reason people did it.”
The mess is caused by static electricity, which is created by friction when the beans are smashed together. This static charge then makes the particles of ground coffee repel each other — like magnets of the same polarity — sending them off in every direction.
Water acts like an insulator, dampening this effect — a process known as the “Ross droplet” technique. “It was first proposed by some enthusiast on a home barista forum,” Hendon said. “The idea has been around for several years, and originally it was borrowed from the materials production industry, like wood pulping.”
However, what started out as a way to reduce mess slowly morphed into a more sophisticated way to obtain a better brew — or at least so people thought. The theory was that by reducing static electricity, water not only kept the ground coffee from flying around or sticking to the insides of the grinder, it also prevented microscopic clumps from forming during brewing.
Why are clumps bad? Because water flows around them, leaving untouched coffee — and therefore flavor — behind. In barista parlance, they decrease extraction yield, or the amount of coffee that ends up in the cup, dissolved in the liquid.
“If you have clumps forming, there’s going to be significant amounts of void space, kind of like when you stack watermelons,” Hendon said. “As a result when you push water through you end up with less surface area touching the water and therefore lower extraction.”
The study, published December 6 in the journal Matter, tested this more subtle, harder to see potential benefit of adding water to the beans: getting rid of flavor-robbing microclumps.
Putting ‘Ross droplet’ to the test
The research team included two volcanologists, who repurposed a tool usually employed to measure electric charges on wildfire and volcanic ash. They weighed coffee before adding water — using a pipette for precision down to the microgram — and then ground it in a professional grinder, one of the fastest on the market and a popular choice in cafes.
“The addition of small amounts of water — ranging from one droplet upwards — passivates, or turns off, the static charge and it does it in a way that the coffee exits the grinder never having been charged,” Hendon said. It’s unclear what exactly the water is doing, but he said it’s perhaps absorbing the charge or changing the temperature inside the grinder, reducing the effects of friction.
“If you add a sufficient amount of water, you can also remove the formation of the clumps,” he added. “You will in principle achieve higher extractions or less waste. That’s exactly what this does, because you’re now providing more available surface area for the same amount of water.”
Without clumps, all of the brewing water comes into contact with the ground beans, reducing the amount of coffee that goes effectively unused and giving a more consistent brew.
The ideal amount of water can change based on parameters such as the type of roast and the coarseness of the grind, so there is no one-size-fits-all rule, but on average, the study found that adding water increases the extraction yield by 10%. Hendon warned that this doesn’t necessarily equate to a tangible difference in flavor, but it does confirm the benefit of the “Ross droplet” technique.
“(Since the study published) I’ve been receiving a lot of emails from people telling me how grateful they are, because from just a cleanliness standpoint, this is a massive, massive upgrade,” Hendon said. “What I would recommend for the home user is to start with a single drop of water and build up from there — there is a substantial amount of nuance in this process.”
There’s also a catch: The water improves cleanliness regardless of your brewing method, but a brewing benefit only occurs with espresso and, to a lesser extent, filter coffee. When using a cafetiere, French press or AeroPress, nothing much changes because, given the coarser grind required with these, “all of the water is already touching all of the coffee,” Hendon said.
The quest for a better brew
Lance Hendrix, a coffee expert and professional barista who wasn’t involved with the study, has tried to replicate the study’s findings and discussed his results in a deep dive on Youtube. He said the work makes a valiant attempt to demystify what is going on when beans are spritzed with water, but for more conclusive evidence, more tests with different grinder models should be performed.
However, based on his own tests, he said he thinks the benefits are plausible.
“I found that the amount of water needed for the purported benefits varied wildly from grinder to grinder,” he added. “So, although I don’t think there is currently a practical catch-all implication from the study to immediately improve coffee brewing at home, I think it is an important addition to the attempts at hand trying to understand the extremely complex process of grinding, which is arguably the most important aspect of brewing a cup.”
François Knopes of the Independent Coffee Lab, a professional coffee roaster and taster who also was not involved with the study, said he routinely sprays his beans before grinding for tasting evaluation and would recommend doing so to anyone in a home setting. However, he thinks doing so elsewhere might be impractical.
“It would be highly time consuming for most professional setups, such as a coffee shop serving hundreds of espresso-based drinks per day,” Knopes said. “To improve and increase extraction, professional baristas are better off looking for improved grinding technologies or ‘de-clumping’ devices, little needles used to whisk the grounds and break the small boulders generated during grinding.”
Hendon agreed. “For the time being, it is a little impractical in the sense that you’d have yet another step,” he said. “But I suspect that there will be technologies that will be developed around this idea that adding water on demand is a very powerful technique.”
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
Coffee connoisseurs have long held the belief that adding a little water to the beans before grinding them could make a difference. A new study by researchers at the University of Oregon seems to confirm exactly why.
Posted 2023-12-25T12:01:13+00:00 - Updated 2023-12-25T17:34:28+00:00 Best coffee products for the holiday season
By Jacopo Prisco , CNN
Coffee connoisseurs have long held the belief that adding a little water to the beans before grinding them could make a difference. A new study by researchers at the University of Oregon seems to confirm exactly why.
The research explored how the technique, which started as an attempt to address the often messy coffee-making process, also affected flavor.
“When you grind coffee, it goes everywhere,” said study coauthor Christopher Hendon, an associate professor of computational materials chemistry at the University of Oregon. “Dust comes out of the grinder, it’s like a plume that covers everything. But if you add a little water, it seems to not go everywhere. It’s cleaner. That was the primary reason people did it.”
The mess is caused by static electricity, which is created by friction when the beans are smashed together. This static charge then makes the particles of ground coffee repel each other — like magnets of the same polarity — sending them off in every direction.
Water acts like an insulator, dampening this effect — a process known as the “Ross droplet” technique. “It was first proposed by some enthusiast on a home barista forum,” Hendon said. “The idea has been around for several years, and originally it was borrowed from the materials production industry, like wood pulping.”
However, what started out as a way to reduce mess slowly morphed into a more sophisticated way to obtain a better brew — or at least so people thought. The theory was that by reducing static electricity, water not only kept the ground coffee from flying around or sticking to the insides of the grinder, it also prevented microscopic clumps from forming during brewing.
Why are clumps bad? Because water flows around them, leaving untouched coffee — and therefore flavor — behind. In barista parlance, they decrease extraction yield, or the amount of coffee that ends up in the cup, dissolved in the liquid.
“If you have clumps forming, there’s going to be significant amounts of void space, kind of like when you stack watermelons,” Hendon said. “As a result when you push water through you end up with less surface area touching the water and therefore lower extraction.”
The study, published December 6 in the journal Matter, tested this more subtle, harder to see potential benefit of adding water to the beans: getting rid of flavor-robbing microclumps.
Putting ‘Ross droplet’ to the test
The research team included two volcanologists, who repurposed a tool usually employed to measure electric charges on wildfire and volcanic ash. They weighed coffee before adding water — using a pipette for precision down to the microgram — and then ground it in a professional grinder, one of the fastest on the market and a popular choice in cafes.
“The addition of small amounts of water — ranging from one droplet upwards — passivates, or turns off, the static charge and it does it in a way that the coffee exits the grinder never having been charged,” Hendon said. It’s unclear what exactly the water is doing, but he said it’s perhaps absorbing the charge or changing the temperature inside the grinder, reducing the effects of friction.
“If you add a sufficient amount of water, you can also remove the formation of the clumps,” he added. “You will in principle achieve higher extractions or less waste. That’s exactly what this does, because you’re now providing more available surface area for the same amount of water.”
Without clumps, all of the brewing water comes into contact with the ground beans, reducing the amount of coffee that goes effectively unused and giving a more consistent brew.
The ideal amount of water can change based on parameters such as the type of roast and the coarseness of the grind, so there is no one-size-fits-all rule, but on average, the study found that adding water increases the extraction yield by 10%. Hendon warned that this doesn’t necessarily equate to a tangible difference in flavor, but it does confirm the benefit of the “Ross droplet” technique.
“(Since the study published) I’ve been receiving a lot of emails from people telling me how grateful they are, because from just a cleanliness standpoint, this is a massive, massive upgrade,” Hendon said. “What I would recommend for the home user is to start with a single drop of water and build up from there — there is a substantial amount of nuance in this process.”
There’s also a catch: The water improves cleanliness regardless of your brewing method, but a brewing benefit only occurs with espresso and, to a lesser extent, filter coffee. When using a cafetiere, French press or AeroPress, nothing much changes because, given the coarser grind required with these, “all of the water is already touching all of the coffee,” Hendon said.
The quest for a better brew
Lance Hendrix, a coffee expert and professional barista who wasn’t involved with the study, has tried to replicate the study’s findings and discussed his results in a deep dive on Youtube. He said the work makes a valiant attempt to demystify what is going on when beans are spritzed with water, but for more conclusive evidence, more tests with different grinder models should be performed.
However, based on his own tests, he said he thinks the benefits are plausible.
“I found that the amount of water needed for the purported benefits varied wildly from grinder to grinder,” he added. “So, although I don’t think there is currently a practical catch-all implication from the study to immediately improve coffee brewing at home, I think it is an important addition to the attempts at hand trying to understand the extremely complex process of grinding, which is arguably the most important aspect of brewing a cup.”
François Knopes of the Independent Coffee Lab, a professional coffee roaster and taster who also was not involved with the study, said he routinely sprays his beans before grinding for tasting evaluation and would recommend doing so to anyone in a home setting. However, he thinks doing so elsewhere might be impractical.
“It would be highly time consuming for most professional setups, such as a coffee shop serving hundreds of espresso-based drinks per day,” Knopes said. “To improve and increase extraction, professional baristas are better off looking for improved grinding technologies or ‘de-clumping’ devices, little needles used to whisk the grounds and break the small boulders generated during grinding.”
Hendon agreed. “For the time being, it is a little impractical in the sense that you’d have yet another step,” he said. “But I suspect that there will be technologies that will be developed around this idea that adding water on demand is a very powerful technique.”
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
Thursday, December 21, 2023
Saturday, December 02, 2023
India's Low Carbon Transition
India’s low carbon transition
This report is part of the Observer Research Foundation’s “Financing Green Transitions” series which aims to find potential linkages between private capital, in all its forms, and climate action projects. The series will primarily examine domestic and international barriers to private capital entry for mitigation oriented climate projects, while also examining potential avenues for private capital flow entry towards adaptation and resilience projects.
Over the past year, the world has been subject to a number of tumultuous events. The most significant of these has undoubtedly been the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States. There are many far reaching implications to the unexpected proceedings of November 8, 2016, but perhaps the most concerning are Mr. Trump’s views on climate change. The 45th US president has unequivocally stated his belief that climate change is not caused by human actions. He has also reiterated a number of times that he intends to withdraw the United States from the Paris Accords.
As the United States vacates its leadership position on climate change, new players are stepping up to take its place. China and India have emerged as the best hope for the world to meet the goals set forth in the Paris Agreement, with both nations currently over performing on their promises to cut carbon emissions [i].
India, in particular, has made a significant push towards ensuring that its economic transition is not reliant on fossil fuels. India’s renewable energy capacity has grown from 27 GW in 2000 to about 93 GW in December 2016 [ii] It is expected that the capacity will grow to 175 GWs by 2022 [iii]. If successful, India will have increased its renewable energy capacity by 600 percent in the span of two decades.
Despite these successes, India’s low carbon transition remains a complex matter with many moving parts. There are several issues that need to be addressed if India wishes to successfully meet its future energy demands while continuing to hold to the promise of a low carbon economic transition.
The majority of these issues are related to India’s power sector. In order to successfully complete a low carbon transition, India must address the financing of renewable energy projects, inefficiencies in the coal sector, and the incorporation of alternative fuel sources. India’s urban transitions must also be addressed, including limiting its urban sprawl, solving its haphazard approach to the transportation sector, and addressing its inadequate waste management processes.
India’s economic and demographic transition
India is in the midst of several transformations which are expected to directly impact its power sector and urban areas. Already home to 1.25 billion people, India will soon overtake China as the most populous nation in the world [iv]. Half of the country’s population is under the age of 26 and by 2020, India will be the youngest country in the world, with an expected median age of 29 [v].
The economic structure of the country is changing as well, with a concerted attempt being made to shift away from India’s traditional dependence on the agricultural and services sectors. The current Indian government has implemented specific policies – such as the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’ initiatives, designed to aid in the development of the manufacturing sector. Intended to shift low-skill jobs away from the agricultural sector and bring India’s sizeable informal economy into the fold [vi], the initiatives have been widely lauded.
The policies are expected to have significant consequences for India’s energy future, however. The amount of energy demanded by the industrial sector is expected to rise annually by 4.4 percent and make up more than 50 percent of all energy consumption in India by 2040 [vii].
India’s urban population is expected to more than double by 2030. Its cities will be asked to hold more than 300 million more people [ix], which will accelerate the use of modern fuels, lead to a rise in appliance and vehicle ownership, and provide an uptick in demand for construction materials, all of which are expected to increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
A younger populace, in conjunction with a shift away from the agricultural sector, has understandably led to an increase in India’s urbanisation rate. India’s urban population is expected to more than double by 2030 [viii]. Its cities will be asked to hold more than 300 million more people [ix], which will accelerate the use of modern fuels, lead to a rise in appliance and vehicle ownership, and provide an uptick in demand for construction materials, all of which are expected to increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The urban transition also means that there will be a move away from the use of biomass fuels, currently being used for heating and cooking fuel in almost 65 percent of Indian households as of 2013. Electricity and oil are expected to make up more than 60 percent of the energy used in these households by 2040 [x].
As of 2013, India made up only 5.7 percent of the world’s energy demand, despite having 18 percent of the world’s population. The upcoming shifts in India’s demographics, economic structure and urban makeup are guaranteed to increase India’s energy consumption rapidly, however. Already below the world average with an electrification rate of 78.7 percent [xi], it is estimated that the country’s power system needs to quadruple in size to keep pace with the 600 million new electricity consumers that will be added by 2040. This will require India to add an additional 900 GW of new capacity, as projected by the International Energy Agency (IEA) under its New Policies Scenario [xii].
In order to meet projected energy demands, India has set ambitious targets to expand its capacity. Having outperformed its 5-year capacity targets by 15 percent, it seems that India is on its way to meeting short term demands [xiii]. India has also reiterated its commitment to a low carbon path towards energy with plans to expand its renewable energy capacity to 175 GW in the medium term.
The challenge of an Indian low carbon transition
India’s power sector – A brief overview
Indian electricity is powered by four sources – coal, renewable energy, natural gas and nuclear energy. Close to 60 percent of India’s power generating capacity comes from coal. Renewable energy accounts for approximately 30 percent of capacity with natural gas and nuclear energy making up the remaining 10 percent.
Incorporating nuclear power into the energy mix has long been an ambition for the Indian government and it is easy to see why given its emission-free nature and consistent output [xlv]. The current administration has reiterated its commitment to nuclear power with plans to grow capacity to 63 GW by 2032 and supply 25 percent of all of India’s electricity through nuclear power by 2050 [xlvi].
These ambitions stand in stark contrast with India’s current nuclear power capabilities, however. With 22 reactors providing an installed capacity of 6.7 GW, nuclear power makes up little more than 2 percent of India’s electricity capacity [xlvii]. The amount of energy generated from nuclear power happens to be marginally higher, making up 3.20 percent of total electricity generated in 2016. [xlviii] There have been a number of barriers that have prevented India from scaling up its nuclear power capabilities.
One of barriers for the nuclear sector is the cost of electricity generated by nuclear power plants in India. A unit of nuclear power currently costs 45 percent more than solar power and close to 100 percent more than coal[xlix], leaving it an economically unviable alternative for consumers. While the nuclear power sector in India is currently publicly owned, the higher consumer prices associated with nuclear power continue to act as a deterrent for private sector entry into the market.
Another barrier of entry into the Indian nuclear energy sector stems from the lack of domestic manufacturing capability. The inherent complexity and stringent safety requirements in the building of nuclear power plants requires a reliable supply chain of components, as well as stability in the capacity and costs of materials. India’s current manufacturing capabilities only allow for construction of reactors with a capacity of 700 MWs, leading to a reliance on foreign suppliers for any large-scale projects [l].
A third issue affecting the nuclear energy sector world-wide, ties into the issue of safety and the perceived risks that are associated with nuclear power plants. Large scale disasters such as Fukushima and Chernobyl have eroded public confidence in nuclear power plant safety mechanisms. While the perceived public risk is often much higher than the objective risks that are calculated [li], the political ramifications associated with the building of nuclear power plants tend to act as a disincentive for both nuclear energy corporations and regulators.
The chief barrier to the scaling up of nuclear power, however, is the start-up costs associated with nuclear power plant construction and the resulting financing requirements. With cost estimates for new power plant construction ranging anywhere from $2 billion to $9 billion [lii], nuclear power faces many of the same investment barriers associated with renewable energy, as well as additional nuances specific to the sector. One such disincentive comes in the form of stringent legal clauses in India which hold investors liable for all costs associated in a disaster scenario.
Large construction delays, cost overruns, the possibility of a large-scale catastrophe, and extensive start-up costs have made nuclear a high-risk proposition for any investor regardless of the country.
Issues within the electrical grid structure
The inefficiencies that are prevalent within other parts of the India power sector, can also been seen in India’s electrical infrastructure. In 2012, India generated 1130 TWh of electricity, making it the third-largest electricity producer in the world after China and the United States. India’s electricity consumption during that period, however, was only 870 TWh, which meant that 23 percent of the electricity that was generated during the year was lost [liii]. This served to further exacerbate the coal and natural gas sectors inefficiency issues leading to increased levels of GHG emissions.
The major reason for these inefficiencies in power delivery is power theft. This is often accomplished by the illegal tapping of existing lines, through meter fraud and unmetered usage by end-consumers. The consequences of power theft include increased usage of coal and natural gas for power generation resulting in increased carbon emissions.
Managing India’s urban transition
India’s rapid urbanisation gives the country an excellent opportunity to mitigate transportation and solid waste related emissions through careful planning. One solution aimed at managing future urban sprawl that has been implemented by the Indian government has been the use of urban master plans for all Indian cities. The central government has made it a legal requirement for all Indian cities and towns to file a legal document mapping the growth of the urban centre over the next 20 to 25 years on a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform.
While this is an important step in managing urban sprawl, there are more concrete steps that can be taken. One possibility could include the passing of legislature requiring urban centres to obtain construction approval from an urban climate committee. Another policy solution aimed at reducing the urban sprawl could be the commissioning of architects and urban planners familiar with green strategies to manage future urban centre construction.
The government has also put forth ambitious plans for the expansion of its public transport systems. Studies regarding the viability of shifting the current public transport systems to an electricity-driven system are currently underway by the Indian government, although further work needs to be done on the impact this will have on reducing emissions. Additionally, a regional rapid rail transit spanning almost 100 kilometres across the states of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, as well as a city-based light rail transit system in Delhi, are in their beginning stages. A possible fantastical solution that has been proposed to the Indian government has been the construction of a national hyper loop rail.
Although these solutions will help in mitigating future carbon emissions, further solutions are required. Stricter road code polices and the enforcement of said road code policies could help with transport related emissions while also providing co-benefits in the form of air pollution reduction. The capture and use of the methane gas produced by sewage plants and landfills can significantly reduce GHG emissions while also providing the co-benefit of generating electricity [lxxvi]. In order to fund these projects, matchmaking services between growing cities and investors seeking climate friendly infrastructure projects could be built.
Conclusion
As can be seen, there are several challenges that India still faces as it attempts to conduct its low carbon transition. These challenges include, but are not limited to, obtaining funding for renewable energy projects, resolving inefficiencies in the coal sector, building capacity and infrastructure in the natural gas and renewable energy sectors and proper management of India’s upcoming urban transition.
It should be acknowledged that India has many opportunities to help conduct the transition as well. Policy shifts designed to increase private capital funding for renewable energy projects, technological shifts aimed at solving the inefficiencies in the coal sector, and updated methodologies for the management of urban sprawl in India’s growing cities could be the key to ensuring that India is the first emerging economy in the world to manage a successful low carbon economic transition.
In acknowledging the complexities associated with India’s low carbon transition, it is also important to contextualize the transition against India’s broader development goals. India, with a GDP per capita of $1,598 [lxxvii] and 12.8 percent of its population living in extreme poverty [lxxviii] is still very much an emerging economy and as such, should prioritise social development and economic growth.
Despite the importance of meeting broader development goals, an impending demographic shift, rapid urbanisation and a shifting economic makeup, India has made a substantial commitment to upholding its global moral obligations. As of 2016, India generates a higher percentage of its power from renewable energy than the United States. According to the IEA’s New Policies Scenario[lxxix], India will continue to remain below the world average in carbon emissions per capita for the next 35 years. Through both its actions and words, India has shown that it remains committed to a low carbon transition despite its development and economic needs. It remains to be seen whether the rest of the world will follow in India’s footsteps.
This report is part of the Observer Research Foundation’s “Financing Green Transitions” series which aims to find potential linkages between private capital, in all its forms, and climate action projects. The series will primarily examine domestic and international barriers to private capital entry for mitigation oriented climate projects, while also examining potential avenues for private capital flow entry towards adaptation and resilience projects.
Over the past year, the world has been subject to a number of tumultuous events. The most significant of these has undoubtedly been the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States. There are many far reaching implications to the unexpected proceedings of November 8, 2016, but perhaps the most concerning are Mr. Trump’s views on climate change. The 45th US president has unequivocally stated his belief that climate change is not caused by human actions. He has also reiterated a number of times that he intends to withdraw the United States from the Paris Accords.
As the United States vacates its leadership position on climate change, new players are stepping up to take its place. China and India have emerged as the best hope for the world to meet the goals set forth in the Paris Agreement, with both nations currently over performing on their promises to cut carbon emissions [i].
India, in particular, has made a significant push towards ensuring that its economic transition is not reliant on fossil fuels. India’s renewable energy capacity has grown from 27 GW in 2000 to about 93 GW in December 2016 [ii] It is expected that the capacity will grow to 175 GWs by 2022 [iii]. If successful, India will have increased its renewable energy capacity by 600 percent in the span of two decades.
Despite these successes, India’s low carbon transition remains a complex matter with many moving parts. There are several issues that need to be addressed if India wishes to successfully meet its future energy demands while continuing to hold to the promise of a low carbon economic transition.
The majority of these issues are related to India’s power sector. In order to successfully complete a low carbon transition, India must address the financing of renewable energy projects, inefficiencies in the coal sector, and the incorporation of alternative fuel sources. India’s urban transitions must also be addressed, including limiting its urban sprawl, solving its haphazard approach to the transportation sector, and addressing its inadequate waste management processes.
India’s economic and demographic transition
India is in the midst of several transformations which are expected to directly impact its power sector and urban areas. Already home to 1.25 billion people, India will soon overtake China as the most populous nation in the world [iv]. Half of the country’s population is under the age of 26 and by 2020, India will be the youngest country in the world, with an expected median age of 29 [v].
The economic structure of the country is changing as well, with a concerted attempt being made to shift away from India’s traditional dependence on the agricultural and services sectors. The current Indian government has implemented specific policies – such as the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’ initiatives, designed to aid in the development of the manufacturing sector. Intended to shift low-skill jobs away from the agricultural sector and bring India’s sizeable informal economy into the fold [vi], the initiatives have been widely lauded.
The policies are expected to have significant consequences for India’s energy future, however. The amount of energy demanded by the industrial sector is expected to rise annually by 4.4 percent and make up more than 50 percent of all energy consumption in India by 2040 [vii].
India’s urban population is expected to more than double by 2030. Its cities will be asked to hold more than 300 million more people [ix], which will accelerate the use of modern fuels, lead to a rise in appliance and vehicle ownership, and provide an uptick in demand for construction materials, all of which are expected to increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
A younger populace, in conjunction with a shift away from the agricultural sector, has understandably led to an increase in India’s urbanisation rate. India’s urban population is expected to more than double by 2030 [viii]. Its cities will be asked to hold more than 300 million more people [ix], which will accelerate the use of modern fuels, lead to a rise in appliance and vehicle ownership, and provide an uptick in demand for construction materials, all of which are expected to increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The urban transition also means that there will be a move away from the use of biomass fuels, currently being used for heating and cooking fuel in almost 65 percent of Indian households as of 2013. Electricity and oil are expected to make up more than 60 percent of the energy used in these households by 2040 [x].
As of 2013, India made up only 5.7 percent of the world’s energy demand, despite having 18 percent of the world’s population. The upcoming shifts in India’s demographics, economic structure and urban makeup are guaranteed to increase India’s energy consumption rapidly, however. Already below the world average with an electrification rate of 78.7 percent [xi], it is estimated that the country’s power system needs to quadruple in size to keep pace with the 600 million new electricity consumers that will be added by 2040. This will require India to add an additional 900 GW of new capacity, as projected by the International Energy Agency (IEA) under its New Policies Scenario [xii].
In order to meet projected energy demands, India has set ambitious targets to expand its capacity. Having outperformed its 5-year capacity targets by 15 percent, it seems that India is on its way to meeting short term demands [xiii]. India has also reiterated its commitment to a low carbon path towards energy with plans to expand its renewable energy capacity to 175 GW in the medium term.
The challenge of an Indian low carbon transition
India’s power sector – A brief overview
Indian electricity is powered by four sources – coal, renewable energy, natural gas and nuclear energy. Close to 60 percent of India’s power generating capacity comes from coal. Renewable energy accounts for approximately 30 percent of capacity with natural gas and nuclear energy making up the remaining 10 percent.
Incorporating nuclear power into the energy mix has long been an ambition for the Indian government and it is easy to see why given its emission-free nature and consistent output [xlv]. The current administration has reiterated its commitment to nuclear power with plans to grow capacity to 63 GW by 2032 and supply 25 percent of all of India’s electricity through nuclear power by 2050 [xlvi].
These ambitions stand in stark contrast with India’s current nuclear power capabilities, however. With 22 reactors providing an installed capacity of 6.7 GW, nuclear power makes up little more than 2 percent of India’s electricity capacity [xlvii]. The amount of energy generated from nuclear power happens to be marginally higher, making up 3.20 percent of total electricity generated in 2016. [xlviii] There have been a number of barriers that have prevented India from scaling up its nuclear power capabilities.
One of barriers for the nuclear sector is the cost of electricity generated by nuclear power plants in India. A unit of nuclear power currently costs 45 percent more than solar power and close to 100 percent more than coal[xlix], leaving it an economically unviable alternative for consumers. While the nuclear power sector in India is currently publicly owned, the higher consumer prices associated with nuclear power continue to act as a deterrent for private sector entry into the market.
Another barrier of entry into the Indian nuclear energy sector stems from the lack of domestic manufacturing capability. The inherent complexity and stringent safety requirements in the building of nuclear power plants requires a reliable supply chain of components, as well as stability in the capacity and costs of materials. India’s current manufacturing capabilities only allow for construction of reactors with a capacity of 700 MWs, leading to a reliance on foreign suppliers for any large-scale projects [l].
A third issue affecting the nuclear energy sector world-wide, ties into the issue of safety and the perceived risks that are associated with nuclear power plants. Large scale disasters such as Fukushima and Chernobyl have eroded public confidence in nuclear power plant safety mechanisms. While the perceived public risk is often much higher than the objective risks that are calculated [li], the political ramifications associated with the building of nuclear power plants tend to act as a disincentive for both nuclear energy corporations and regulators.
The chief barrier to the scaling up of nuclear power, however, is the start-up costs associated with nuclear power plant construction and the resulting financing requirements. With cost estimates for new power plant construction ranging anywhere from $2 billion to $9 billion [lii], nuclear power faces many of the same investment barriers associated with renewable energy, as well as additional nuances specific to the sector. One such disincentive comes in the form of stringent legal clauses in India which hold investors liable for all costs associated in a disaster scenario.
Large construction delays, cost overruns, the possibility of a large-scale catastrophe, and extensive start-up costs have made nuclear a high-risk proposition for any investor regardless of the country.
Issues within the electrical grid structure
The inefficiencies that are prevalent within other parts of the India power sector, can also been seen in India’s electrical infrastructure. In 2012, India generated 1130 TWh of electricity, making it the third-largest electricity producer in the world after China and the United States. India’s electricity consumption during that period, however, was only 870 TWh, which meant that 23 percent of the electricity that was generated during the year was lost [liii]. This served to further exacerbate the coal and natural gas sectors inefficiency issues leading to increased levels of GHG emissions.
The major reason for these inefficiencies in power delivery is power theft. This is often accomplished by the illegal tapping of existing lines, through meter fraud and unmetered usage by end-consumers. The consequences of power theft include increased usage of coal and natural gas for power generation resulting in increased carbon emissions.
Managing India’s urban transition
India’s rapid urbanisation gives the country an excellent opportunity to mitigate transportation and solid waste related emissions through careful planning. One solution aimed at managing future urban sprawl that has been implemented by the Indian government has been the use of urban master plans for all Indian cities. The central government has made it a legal requirement for all Indian cities and towns to file a legal document mapping the growth of the urban centre over the next 20 to 25 years on a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform.
While this is an important step in managing urban sprawl, there are more concrete steps that can be taken. One possibility could include the passing of legislature requiring urban centres to obtain construction approval from an urban climate committee. Another policy solution aimed at reducing the urban sprawl could be the commissioning of architects and urban planners familiar with green strategies to manage future urban centre construction.
The government has also put forth ambitious plans for the expansion of its public transport systems. Studies regarding the viability of shifting the current public transport systems to an electricity-driven system are currently underway by the Indian government, although further work needs to be done on the impact this will have on reducing emissions. Additionally, a regional rapid rail transit spanning almost 100 kilometres across the states of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, as well as a city-based light rail transit system in Delhi, are in their beginning stages. A possible fantastical solution that has been proposed to the Indian government has been the construction of a national hyper loop rail.
Although these solutions will help in mitigating future carbon emissions, further solutions are required. Stricter road code polices and the enforcement of said road code policies could help with transport related emissions while also providing co-benefits in the form of air pollution reduction. The capture and use of the methane gas produced by sewage plants and landfills can significantly reduce GHG emissions while also providing the co-benefit of generating electricity [lxxvi]. In order to fund these projects, matchmaking services between growing cities and investors seeking climate friendly infrastructure projects could be built.
Conclusion
As can be seen, there are several challenges that India still faces as it attempts to conduct its low carbon transition. These challenges include, but are not limited to, obtaining funding for renewable energy projects, resolving inefficiencies in the coal sector, building capacity and infrastructure in the natural gas and renewable energy sectors and proper management of India’s upcoming urban transition.
It should be acknowledged that India has many opportunities to help conduct the transition as well. Policy shifts designed to increase private capital funding for renewable energy projects, technological shifts aimed at solving the inefficiencies in the coal sector, and updated methodologies for the management of urban sprawl in India’s growing cities could be the key to ensuring that India is the first emerging economy in the world to manage a successful low carbon economic transition.
In acknowledging the complexities associated with India’s low carbon transition, it is also important to contextualize the transition against India’s broader development goals. India, with a GDP per capita of $1,598 [lxxvii] and 12.8 percent of its population living in extreme poverty [lxxviii] is still very much an emerging economy and as such, should prioritise social development and economic growth.
Despite the importance of meeting broader development goals, an impending demographic shift, rapid urbanisation and a shifting economic makeup, India has made a substantial commitment to upholding its global moral obligations. As of 2016, India generates a higher percentage of its power from renewable energy than the United States. According to the IEA’s New Policies Scenario[lxxix], India will continue to remain below the world average in carbon emissions per capita for the next 35 years. Through both its actions and words, India has shown that it remains committed to a low carbon transition despite its development and economic needs. It remains to be seen whether the rest of the world will follow in India’s footsteps.
Guyana : An Economic Miracle in South America
Guyana: An Economic Miracle or a Short-Term Mirage In Latin America?
The South American country’s economy is expected to see the region’s fastest growth following the discovery of huge oil reserves, but which presents a huge challenge for its government
Bloomberg Línea — The dirt that two years ago covered most of the avenues of Georgetown, Guyana’s capital, has recently turned to asphalt; however, the city’s architecture still remains Victorian and without traces of restoration, and surrounds a population with few signs of economic improvement.
VIEW + Dispute Between Guyana and Venezuela Over Resource-Rich Esequiba Enters New Phase The two countries dispute the ownership and control of Guyana Esequiba, a strip of land rich in oil, forestry and possibly mineral resources in a case being overseen by the International Court of Justice
Guyana’s economy, one of the poorest in Latin America, is now projected to be the fastest growing in the last two years. The upturn is attributed to the oil sector, which in the first half of 2023 grew by 98.4%, and poses a challenge to the response capacity of the small country in dispute with Venezuela.
After a GDP advance of 57.8% last year, according to the World Bank, the economic activity in the country of 800,000 inhabitants could grow by up to 29% this year. However, this growth rate does not resemble the figures of 2014, just a year before an oil field was discovered 193km offshore by ExxonMobil and Hess Corporation in 2015. In that year, GDP stood at about $4.28 billion after rising 0.7% over the previous year.
Meanwhile, 35.1% of the population live in extreme poverty, with an estimated income of one dollar a day, according to NGO Humanium. And although the data is currently uncertain, the government’s official discourse highlights the efforts to eradicate poverty, thus revealing that the problem has not yet been solved.
The Guyanese capital, which has some 350,000 inhabitants and is the largest city in the small country, is an X-ray of this. Travelers still compare it with the poorest areas in Latin America, as well as with localities in the interior of other countries where capitals do have more progress.
Guyana’s GDP per capita has already reached almost $19,000 (at current prices), and commercially recoverable oil reserves are expected to exceed 11 billion barrels, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Economists have advised the government led by President Irfaan Ali not to repeat mistakes of its peers in the management of the oil industry.
“Guyana must seek to strengthen its institutions, create savings and investment mechanisms. It must try to ensure that oil has a positive and sustained impact on its economy”, Venezuelan economist Luis Oliveros said in April of this year.
One of Latin America’s smallest countries could see 100% growth of its gross domestic product by end-2023 compared with two years earlier Estimates for the Caribbean nation’s economy remain positive, and the Guyanese government has managed to identify the economic diversification it requires, according to the World Bank representative for Guyana and Suriname, Diletta Doretti, in order to avoid falling into the so-called ‘Dutch syndrome’. However, the projects for human development and the boosting of non-oil revenues have not been detailed.
According to people familiar with the situation, the country’s political high command is focused on the tense situation developing on the border with Venezuela over the Essequibo territory and the mobilization of Guyana’s troops.
Living in Guyana
Steven works as a welder in one of the popular markets in Georgetown, and also generates income from other trades, which pay up to 20,000 Guyanese dollars, the equivalent of $100 a week. With the sum of all his activities he recently managed to acquire a vehicle.
The minimum wage in Guyana is $287 per month. Rents for an apartment in the city center can range from $1,400 to as much as $4,000.
“You can’t just work from one thing, you have to work from several things,” Steven tells Bloomberg Línea. “Food is not that expensive, but rent and utilities do cost, it’s expensive here in the capital, not like back in Venezuela. The electricity bill sometimes comes in at 29,000 ($139) and water at 8,000 ($39) while internet costs 2,800 ($14).”
People living near border areas have reported to international agencies about the intermittency of public services. Some rely on the rain to collect water in cans, pots and plastic containers.
Gabriel Herrera, a Venezuelan influencer who visited Georgetown told Bloomberg Línea that access to services in the hotel where he was able to stay was basic, without great luxuries or modernization. “Public transportation was nil, there are no well-defined stops or an advanced transportation system. The easiest way was by cab.”
In his journey from Georgetown to the Essequibo sector (territory in dispute with Venezuela), he was able to see that the dynamics and behavior of the country is the same. “The structures you see are the same. Everything looks and seems as if it were just another place in Guyana, there is no difference in the journey to the crossing sector in the disputed zone with Venezuela”, he said.
Social conditions
According to the UN, between 25,000 and 30,000 Venezuelan immigrants have fled the crisis in their country to tried their luck in Guyana. Several thousand live in Essequibo, according to a report by the EFE news agency. Previously, the situation was the opposite, and many Guyanese emigrated to Venezuela in search of a better life. Currently, 55% of Guyanese are living abroad.
As described by the NGO Humanium, the high rate of school desertion in Guyana is also worrying, since children are forced to work as a consequence of the precarious economic situation of their families.
In addition, there is another particular phenomenon that has to do with the indigenous peoples. “A large number of children, mostly Amerindian, live in remote areas, so they are unable to attend school regularly. As a result, this has led to growing disparities between the regions in the interior of the country and the rest of the state in terms of education,” says a Humanium report.
The mortality rate is also alarming, and is 33% among children, a consequence of a large number of malaria cases, especially among Amerindian children, as well as the high number of young people suffering from malnutrition or anemia.
According to an article in The Los Angeles Times, Guyana has $1.6 billion in oil revenues as of May this year, and as a result the government has launched infrastructure projects such as the construction of 12 hospitals, seven hotels, schools, two major highways, its first deepwater port, and a $1.9 billion project to generate electricity from natural gas that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo told AP will double Guyana’s energy generation capacity and cut high electricity bills in half.
“While the projects have created jobs, it is rare for Guyanese to work directly in the oil industry. Ocean-bottom drilling work is highly technical, and the country offers no such training,” according to the article.
A lack of experience
Experts are concerned that Guyana lacks the expertise, legal and regulatory framework to handle the expected influx of wealth, and warn that democratic institutions could be weakened as a result.
“Global experience has shown that rising expectations of oil and gas revenues can lead to overspending, over-indebtedness or excessive depletion of sovereign funds in reshaping economic policy,” Diletta Doretti, the World Bank’s representative for the country tells Bloomberg Línea.
Guyana, which remains a poor country despite having accumulated significant fiscal and external reserves with the start of oil production in 2019, has sought to protect oil revenues with the Natural Resources Fund Act created in 2021. Still, it is critical for it to develop a medium-term strategy for economic diversification and growth in the non-oil sector, Doretti said.
“Guyana’s political instability raises concerns that the country is unprepared for its newfound wealth without a plan to manage the new revenues and equitably distribute the financial benefits,” according to a report by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which acknowledged the country’s deep ethnic rivalries.
The Guyanese government, meanwhile, has been alert in recent months to the possibility of an armed conflict with Venezuela. The government’s defense of the Esequiba territory, an area of 160,000 square kilometers rich in minerals and natural wealth, as well as offshore oil reserves, whose sovereignty has been under discussion for almost two centuries, has been escalating.
“The government of Guyana reserves the right to carry out economic development activities in any part of its sovereign territory or in any corresponding maritime territory,” President Ali said in a statement released in September after Venezuela questioned the country’s plan to allow bidding for oil blocks, which it deemed illegal.
The South American country’s economy is expected to see the region’s fastest growth following the discovery of huge oil reserves, but which presents a huge challenge for its government
Bloomberg Línea — The dirt that two years ago covered most of the avenues of Georgetown, Guyana’s capital, has recently turned to asphalt; however, the city’s architecture still remains Victorian and without traces of restoration, and surrounds a population with few signs of economic improvement.
VIEW + Dispute Between Guyana and Venezuela Over Resource-Rich Esequiba Enters New Phase The two countries dispute the ownership and control of Guyana Esequiba, a strip of land rich in oil, forestry and possibly mineral resources in a case being overseen by the International Court of Justice
Guyana’s economy, one of the poorest in Latin America, is now projected to be the fastest growing in the last two years. The upturn is attributed to the oil sector, which in the first half of 2023 grew by 98.4%, and poses a challenge to the response capacity of the small country in dispute with Venezuela.
After a GDP advance of 57.8% last year, according to the World Bank, the economic activity in the country of 800,000 inhabitants could grow by up to 29% this year. However, this growth rate does not resemble the figures of 2014, just a year before an oil field was discovered 193km offshore by ExxonMobil and Hess Corporation in 2015. In that year, GDP stood at about $4.28 billion after rising 0.7% over the previous year.
Meanwhile, 35.1% of the population live in extreme poverty, with an estimated income of one dollar a day, according to NGO Humanium. And although the data is currently uncertain, the government’s official discourse highlights the efforts to eradicate poverty, thus revealing that the problem has not yet been solved.
The Guyanese capital, which has some 350,000 inhabitants and is the largest city in the small country, is an X-ray of this. Travelers still compare it with the poorest areas in Latin America, as well as with localities in the interior of other countries where capitals do have more progress.
Guyana’s GDP per capita has already reached almost $19,000 (at current prices), and commercially recoverable oil reserves are expected to exceed 11 billion barrels, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Economists have advised the government led by President Irfaan Ali not to repeat mistakes of its peers in the management of the oil industry.
“Guyana must seek to strengthen its institutions, create savings and investment mechanisms. It must try to ensure that oil has a positive and sustained impact on its economy”, Venezuelan economist Luis Oliveros said in April of this year.
One of Latin America’s smallest countries could see 100% growth of its gross domestic product by end-2023 compared with two years earlier Estimates for the Caribbean nation’s economy remain positive, and the Guyanese government has managed to identify the economic diversification it requires, according to the World Bank representative for Guyana and Suriname, Diletta Doretti, in order to avoid falling into the so-called ‘Dutch syndrome’. However, the projects for human development and the boosting of non-oil revenues have not been detailed.
According to people familiar with the situation, the country’s political high command is focused on the tense situation developing on the border with Venezuela over the Essequibo territory and the mobilization of Guyana’s troops.
Living in Guyana
Steven works as a welder in one of the popular markets in Georgetown, and also generates income from other trades, which pay up to 20,000 Guyanese dollars, the equivalent of $100 a week. With the sum of all his activities he recently managed to acquire a vehicle.
The minimum wage in Guyana is $287 per month. Rents for an apartment in the city center can range from $1,400 to as much as $4,000.
“You can’t just work from one thing, you have to work from several things,” Steven tells Bloomberg Línea. “Food is not that expensive, but rent and utilities do cost, it’s expensive here in the capital, not like back in Venezuela. The electricity bill sometimes comes in at 29,000 ($139) and water at 8,000 ($39) while internet costs 2,800 ($14).”
People living near border areas have reported to international agencies about the intermittency of public services. Some rely on the rain to collect water in cans, pots and plastic containers.
Gabriel Herrera, a Venezuelan influencer who visited Georgetown told Bloomberg Línea that access to services in the hotel where he was able to stay was basic, without great luxuries or modernization. “Public transportation was nil, there are no well-defined stops or an advanced transportation system. The easiest way was by cab.”
In his journey from Georgetown to the Essequibo sector (territory in dispute with Venezuela), he was able to see that the dynamics and behavior of the country is the same. “The structures you see are the same. Everything looks and seems as if it were just another place in Guyana, there is no difference in the journey to the crossing sector in the disputed zone with Venezuela”, he said.
Social conditions
According to the UN, between 25,000 and 30,000 Venezuelan immigrants have fled the crisis in their country to tried their luck in Guyana. Several thousand live in Essequibo, according to a report by the EFE news agency. Previously, the situation was the opposite, and many Guyanese emigrated to Venezuela in search of a better life. Currently, 55% of Guyanese are living abroad.
As described by the NGO Humanium, the high rate of school desertion in Guyana is also worrying, since children are forced to work as a consequence of the precarious economic situation of their families.
In addition, there is another particular phenomenon that has to do with the indigenous peoples. “A large number of children, mostly Amerindian, live in remote areas, so they are unable to attend school regularly. As a result, this has led to growing disparities between the regions in the interior of the country and the rest of the state in terms of education,” says a Humanium report.
The mortality rate is also alarming, and is 33% among children, a consequence of a large number of malaria cases, especially among Amerindian children, as well as the high number of young people suffering from malnutrition or anemia.
According to an article in The Los Angeles Times, Guyana has $1.6 billion in oil revenues as of May this year, and as a result the government has launched infrastructure projects such as the construction of 12 hospitals, seven hotels, schools, two major highways, its first deepwater port, and a $1.9 billion project to generate electricity from natural gas that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo told AP will double Guyana’s energy generation capacity and cut high electricity bills in half.
“While the projects have created jobs, it is rare for Guyanese to work directly in the oil industry. Ocean-bottom drilling work is highly technical, and the country offers no such training,” according to the article.
A lack of experience
Experts are concerned that Guyana lacks the expertise, legal and regulatory framework to handle the expected influx of wealth, and warn that democratic institutions could be weakened as a result.
“Global experience has shown that rising expectations of oil and gas revenues can lead to overspending, over-indebtedness or excessive depletion of sovereign funds in reshaping economic policy,” Diletta Doretti, the World Bank’s representative for the country tells Bloomberg Línea.
Guyana, which remains a poor country despite having accumulated significant fiscal and external reserves with the start of oil production in 2019, has sought to protect oil revenues with the Natural Resources Fund Act created in 2021. Still, it is critical for it to develop a medium-term strategy for economic diversification and growth in the non-oil sector, Doretti said.
“Guyana’s political instability raises concerns that the country is unprepared for its newfound wealth without a plan to manage the new revenues and equitably distribute the financial benefits,” according to a report by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which acknowledged the country’s deep ethnic rivalries.
The Guyanese government, meanwhile, has been alert in recent months to the possibility of an armed conflict with Venezuela. The government’s defense of the Esequiba territory, an area of 160,000 square kilometers rich in minerals and natural wealth, as well as offshore oil reserves, whose sovereignty has been under discussion for almost two centuries, has been escalating.
“The government of Guyana reserves the right to carry out economic development activities in any part of its sovereign territory or in any corresponding maritime territory,” President Ali said in a statement released in September after Venezuela questioned the country’s plan to allow bidding for oil blocks, which it deemed illegal.
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